Koichi Wakata | |
|---|---|
| 若田 光一 | |
_2.jpg) Wakata in 2022 | |
| Born | (1963-08-01)1 August 1963 (age 62) Ōmiya, Saitama, Japan |
| Occupation | Structural Engineer |
| Space career | |
| NASDA/JAXA astronaut | |
Time in space | 504 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes |
| Selection | 1992 NASDA Group |
TotalEVAs | 2 |
Total EVA time | 14 hours, 2 minutes |
| Missions | |
Mission insignia |            |
| Retirement | 31 March 2024 |
Koichi Wakata (若田 光一,Wakata Kōichi; born 1 August 1963) is a Japaneseengineer and anastronaut working forAxiom Space. Wakata retired fromJAXA in 2024 after a career in spaceflight spanning nearly two decades. He logged over 500 days in space across five missions: three aboard theSpace Shuttle, one on theSoyuz, and one on theCrew Dragon. His missions included three long-duration stays on theInternational Space Station (ISS) and two short-duration flights—one to the ISS and one aboard the Space Shuttle. Notably, duringExpedition 39, he became the first Japanese commander of the ISS.[1]
Wakata was born inŌmiya, Saitama, Japan, earned aBachelor of Science degree inAeronautical Engineering in 1987, aMaster of Science degree inApplied Mechanics in 1989, and aDoctorate inAerospace Engineering in 2004 fromKyushu University.[2] He worked as a structural engineer forJapan Airlines.
Wakata was selected by theNational Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) (nowJAXA) as an astronaut candidate in 1992, and trained at NASA'sJohnson Space Center. Wakata has held a number of assignments, and during STS-85, Wakata acted as NASDA Assistant Payload Operations Director for the Manipulator Flight Demonstration, a robotic arm experiment for theJapanese Experiment Module of theInternational Space Station (ISS).[2] In December 2000, he became a NASA robotics instructor astronaut. In July 2006, he served as commander of the 10th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) mission, a seven-day undersea expedition at theNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’sAquarius laboratory located off the coast ofFlorida.[2] In August 2006, he started flight engineer training for RussianSoyuz spacecraft in preparation for a long-duration stay on the ISS.[2]
Wakata first flew aboardSTS-72 in 1996, and then returned to space onSTS-92 in 2000.[2] Wakata launched to the International Space Station (ISS) for a long-duration mission as part of Expeditions18,19, and20 onSTS-119 on March 15, 2009 and returned to the earth aboard Endeavour with theSTS-127 crew four and a half months later on July 31, 2009. On November 7, 2013 Wataka returned to the ISS aboardSoyuz TMA-11M for a six-month mission covering Expeditions38 and39. He became the ISS commander for the last two months of that mission on Expedition 39.[3]
OnSTS-72, Wakata became the first Japanese mission specialist.[2]STS-72 retrieved theSpace Flyer Unit (launched from Japan ten months earlier), deployed and retrieved the OAST-Flyer, and evaluated techniques to be used in the assembly of the International Space Station.[2]
DuringSTS-72, Wakata and fellow astronautDan Barry became the first people to play the gameGo in space. Wakata and Barry used a specialGo set, which was namedGo Space, designed by Wai-Cheung Willson Chow.[4]
Wakata became the first Japanese astronaut to work on theassembly of the International Space Station duringSTS-92. The crew attached theZ1 truss andPressurized Mating Adapter (PMA3) to the station usingDiscovery’s robotic arm. STS-92 prepared the station for its first resident crew.[2]
In February 2007, Wakata was assigned as a flight engineer to ISSExpedition 18, scheduled to begin in winter of 2008.[5] He launched with the crew ofSTS-119 and was the first resident station crew member from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).[5] He served asflight engineer 2 onExpedition 18,Expedition 19 andExpedition 20, before returning home as a mission specialist onSTS-127.
Wakata was the first Japanese astronaut to take part in a long-duration mission on the station.[2]
Wakata is the first person to serve on five different crews without returning to Earth:STS-119,Expedition 18,Expedition 19,Expedition 20 andSTS-127.[6]
During his time on the station, he took part in experiments suggested by the public, including flying a "magic carpet", folding laundry and doing pushups.[7]
As an experiment on the station, he wore the same special underpants for a month without washing them.[8] Wakata returned to Earth in July 2009 aboard Endeavour with theSTS-127 crew after being a flight engineer on the station. American and Canadian astronauts aboard STS-127 delivered and installed the final two components of the Japanese Experiment Module: the Exposed Facility (JEM-EF), and the Exposed Section (JEM-ES).
Wakata launched onSoyuz TMA-11M to the International Space Station in November 2013. During Expedition 38 and Expedition 39,Kirobo—who had the mission to serve as a companion robot to the astronaut[9]—worked closely with Wakata, conducting experiments in space through verbal orders from the astronaut. One of the experiments was the first-ever human-robot conversation in space.[10][11] Wakata arrived on the International Space Station as part of Expedition 38 in late 2013. He became the commander of the International Space Station with Expedition 39, in March 2014. This marked the first time a Japanese astronaut became ISS station commander, and only the third time an astronaut of neither Russian nor American citizenship served as station commander.[12] Wakata returned to Earth on May 13, 2014.
Wakata trained as backup for JAXA astronaut andSpaceX Crew-1 mission specialistSoichi Noguchi ahead of his long duration stay aboard of the ISS as part ofExpedition 64.[13] Shortly after Noguchi's launch in November 2020, JAXA announced that Wakata would return to the ISS for another long-duration mission in 2022.[14] On 21 May 2021NASA announcedJAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata as the fourth member of the crew, in cooperation with JAXA as NASA's international partner.[15] In October 2021, Wakata was reassigned to theSpaceX Crew-5 flight.[16][17]
Wakata retired from JAXA at the end of March 2024.[18] On April 8, 2024, it was announced that Wakata had joinedAxiom Space as an astronaut and Chief Technical Officer for the Asia-Pacific Region.[19]
Wakata is married to Stefanie von Sachsen-Altenburg of Bonn, Germany, and has a son.[2][20][21][22] He is a multi-engine and instrument-ratedpilot, and has logged over 2100 hours in a variety of aircraft.[2]
Minor planet6208 Wakata is named after him.[23]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
| Preceded by | ISS Expedition Commander 10 March 2014 to 13 May 2014 | Succeeded by |
NASA Astronaut Group 13 ← NASA Astronaut Group 14 →NASA Astronaut Group 15 | |||||||
| Pilots | |||||||
| Mission specialists | |||||||
| International mission specialists |
| ||||||
| |||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
